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Posted: 2/27/2010 9:19:56 PM EDT
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I bought a Garand from an individual. It should be here Tuesday. All I have to go on is the seller's description and the pics posted on a hosting site.
It's an SA Garand. The seller states is has it guages as: TE is 3 and ME is 2. From what I can tell from the CMP sales site that puts it in a very good Service Grade- right? Here is the link to the pics. Does the lighter color of the parkerizing indicate a worn, but original finish? Thanks, Jim |
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Here is the description from CMP's website:
"FIELD GRADE: (Fair to Good) Field Grade Rifles. Most of these rifles have been refinished or rebuilt at least once while in military service and will likely have some parts from other manufacturers. Fair to good condition. Rifle wear will be exhibited by worn and mixed colors of the finish; there may be some minor pitting on the metal parts; wood will be basically sound but may be well used with minor hairline cracks, and many dings, scratches and gouges; wood may not match in color, type of wood or condition. These rifles may have some foreign parts and wood may be Walnut, Birch, Beech or other variety. Rifles do not have import marks. Bores will be generally good with only minor imperfections; the barrel crown may be nicked, and the muzzle may gauge more than “3” on muzzle gauge. The Throat Erosion will gauge less than 5 – well within US Army standards. Do not expect rifles in mint condition in this grade. Manufacturer selection only guarantees the receiver was produced by the manufacturer listed. The barrel and the other parts may have been produced by other manufacturers. SERVICE GRADE: (Good to Very Good) Service Grade Rifles show less wear and better appearance than Field or Rack Grades. Good to very good condition. Rifle wear will be exhibited by worn and mixed colors of the parkerized finish. There may be some minor pitting on the metal parts. Wood will be either Walnut, Birch, Beech or other variety and will be basically sound but may have minor hairline cracks, dings, scratches and gouges. Wood may not match in color or type of wood. Wood may be of new production on Service Grade Garands. Bores will be generally good with only minor imperfections. The barrel crown may be nicked, but the muzzle will gauge less than 3 and the throat erosion will gauge less than 5." I believe yours falls more into the field grade catagory. http://www.thecmp.org/m1garand.htm Descriptions listed at bottom of page. |
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I was just going by the ME and TE or 2 and 3. I was mainly interested in it for that and the fact it isn't a Greek return.
If I find it isn't accurate enough I can always send it to Fultons and have it refinished and a new barrel installed. Or just keep it as is and buy one from Fultons to shoot matches with. Jim |
| My first Garand was a CMP SG Dane return and you can see it in my avatar pic. It has maybe 50% finish left on the receiver and sights. The MW was 1.5 and the TE was 2.5, so I have no problem calling yours a SG. Your wood looks a bit better than mine and the finish looks better as well. From the pictures it looks like the breech of the barrel is parked so I would say it is unlikely to be the original finish but that really does not matter much as most of them have been through rebuild at some point. Looks good to me. |
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When I get it I will have a better idea exactly what it looks like. From the pics it's hard to tell what the end of the barrel looks like. It should be here Tuesday.
As for grading I thought the only criteria was the ME and TE. I have seen Rack grades that looked better than some Service grades, but had more throat erosion and muzzle erosion. I think the difference between the Service grade and Correct grade is the metal wear and condition of the stock- the TE and ME are about the same. The test will come at the range. Jim |
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I dont think it would make Service grade based on finish wear. I would also bet the barrel wear noted above would be borderline for a Service grade.
On the other hand, OP you are getting a great rifle. Have the crown cleaned up and I bet it will shoot better than you can. Oh, and buy a new recoil spring, its cheap insurance. |
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I pulled a few from the safe and checked the tags
The following were Field Grades MW - TW 1 - 4 1 - 3 1.5 - ? 2.5 - 3 Rack Grades MW TW 3 - 4 1.75 - 3 2 - 3 To be honest the Rack Grades were all handpicked some of the fields were mail ordered Its just my opinion guys, doesnt mean I'm right or that you have to agree |
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Hell, I don't care what grade it is. I'm just a nosy SOB who asks too many questions sometimes.
I checked FedEx tracking. It is scheduled to be delivered Wednesday. Once I have it in my hot little hands and get to fondle it,- err, field strip it, wait a minute. i'm getting wood. Once I check it out and see exactly what I have I will take some better pics. I had one guy on the CMP forum say it's finish dodn't look worn, it looked aged. There is no way I can really guage it's condition based on those pics. I will be checking the crown first. I do plan on ordering springs for it. They are cheap peace of mind. I have some good grease, and the seller is sending a couple of grease pots and some clips with the rifle. I will also order some books pronto. I don't think I still have my manual from a Garand I owned a while ago, but I can download some until I buy some. Jim |
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Quoted:
To be honest the Rack Grades were all handpicked some of the fields were mail ordered Its just my opinion guys, doesnt mean I'm right or that you have to agree Shoot, I may just be jealous that I do not live that close myself.  Although, I am not sure if it would be all that good for me if I did. I like them too much.
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